AMHERST — With only ten days before the tipoff of the 2013-14 season (and less than a week before an exhibition game against American International College on Nov. 5), it's getting to be crunch time for the University of Massachusetts basketball team.

UMass coach Derek Kellogg has a laundry list of things he wants to work on and accomplish before his team's Nov. 10 date with Boston College at the TD Garden, and high up on that list is finding the right mesh of starters.

It's a tricky task for any coach, and Kellogg has to replace 66 starts from the departed Terrell Vinson, Freddie Riley and Jesse Morgan.

The first major step came Saturday in the Minutemen's 96-80 loss in a closed-door scrimmage at Harvard against a Crimson squad that's projected by many to be a top 25 team by year's end. The outing was far from perfect, but it was an important test and afforded UMass an opportunity to further experiment with potential starting lineups and rotations.

Kellogg said he's not ready to commit to anything just yet, but he's getting closer.

"I really say we've got a starting eight, to a certain extent, right now. And I'm trying to figure out which five is our best team," he said. "I think Chaz (Williams), Derrick Gordon and then Trey (Davis) in the backcourt. And then you've got the three group of Sampson (Carter), Maxie (Esho) and (Raphiael) Putney. And then you kind of have Tyler (Bergantino) and Cady (Lalanne), with Cady obviously being ahead of Tyler right now, as far as who's gonna start."

But for now, much appears to still be up for debate. Some lineup decisions will be decided by game-to-game matchups, but the next week or so will go a long way in deciding who will be on the floor when the ball goes up against the Eagles.

"Those other positions, do I start Trey or Derrick Gordon? Which two out of Maxie, Sampson and Putney do I start?" Kellogg said. "So, that's kind of up in the air a little bit, but I'm starting to get a good feel of which lineups are the best.

"Maybe Trey's better coming off the bench with this guy, so that we have a different shooter or a different look, or maybe Derrick Gordon is better coming off the bench. I'm not sure, but I'm getting a better indication."